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Friday, 15 July 2016

Naval Hero Sir James Lucas Yeo – Part 1

When reading of action by the Royal Navy in the Revolutionary
and Napoleonic War period one is struck not just by the commitment in carrying
the fight into the enemy’s inshore waters – and even harbours – but by the almost
insane gallantry that was so widespread among officers and enlisted men alike.
Nowhere was this more apparent than in “cutting out” operations – captures of
enemy shipping by boarding parties in small boats – and in assaults on coastal
fortifications. Hazardous as such actions were, they represented craved-for
opportunities for young officers to distinguish themselves and to earn advancement,
while prize-money provided a welcome inducement for officers and men alike.

One such example of a young officer who earned fast
promotion, and whose career would probably have brought him to the most senior
levels, had he not died young, was Sir James Lucas Yeo(1782 – 1818). He is best remembered today for his command of
British naval forces on the Great Lakes in the War of 1812 but his rapid ascent to
such a significant command started with a spectacular attack on coastal
fortifications in 1805. Handsome and courageous, obviously a born leader, he seems
like a figure who steps from the pages of a work of naval fiction.

Yeo joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman at the age of 10.
By 1805, having already seen significant action, this twenty-three year old was
serving as First Lieutenant on the frigate HMS Loire. Her name betrayed her French origin – it was Royal Navy
policy for ships captured from the enemy to retain their original names – and
this 1350-ton, 150-ft frigate had been captured off the west coast of Ireland
in 1798 in the aftermath of the Battle of Tory Island.

The Battle of Tory Island, 12th October 1796 by Nicholas Pocock (1740-1821) -Loire escaped but was run down and captured six days later

In June 1805 – when Spain was still allied with France – the
Loire was on patrol off the north-west
coast of Spain. Information reached her that a 26-gun privateer was fitting out
in Muros Bay, a deep inlet on this indented coast. Loire’sCaptain Fredrick
Lewis Maitland (1777-1839) had been in the bay on a previous occasion
and – though his recollection was not perfect – believed it possible to either
to capture or destroy the enemy vessel. The complication was however that the entrance to the bay was commanded by a shore battery and in any contest between a warship and shore-based
artillery the ship was likely to come off worst. This insight was summarised in
Nelson’s aphorism that “A ship’s a fool
to fight a fort”. As a precursor therefore to Loire entering Muros Bay, Lieutenant Yeo was directed to take a landing
party of fifty men – seamen and marines – to storm the battery.

Frederick Lewis Maitland (1815)

On the morning of 4th June the Loire stood in towards the bay, apparently
to draw fire from the battery to provide a diversion to cover the landing party’s
approach. In the elegant expression of the time, the Loire was described as having been “much annoyed” by fire from the battery, which proved to be armed
with two guns only. Loire’s action
proved effective enough for Yeo to get his force ashore under the battery. The arrival
of this group proved enough for the troops manning the battery guns to abandon
the position, leaving Yeo in possession. He immediately ordered spiking of the
guns but also identified, about a quarter mile distant, and further into the bay,
a “regular fort protected by a ditch and a gate", with its guns commanding the inner
bay. The presence of this fortification had not previously been known – Captain
Maitland’s recollection of his previous visit to the bay was indeed incomplete.

With the battery eliminated – but with Yeo and his men still
ashore – Captain Maitland now brought the Loire
further into the bay. He could now see that the privateer was a corvette –
later to be identified as the Confiance
– and also a large armed brig. He concluded that these vessels had not yet
shipped their guns and were, accordingly, at his mercy. Only now however was he
to become aware of the previously unseen fort. Loire was now subjected to what was descried as “well-directed” fire from shore, with virtually
every shot striking her hull. Nothing daunted, Maitland dropped anchor in a
position relative to the battery’s protective embrasures that made aiming of its
guns at the ship virtually impossible. He then engaged the fort but the Loire’s fire alone could not be enough
to neutralise it – that would be dependent
on Yeo, ashore, having the initiative to take appropriate action.

Yeo brought his force, apparently undetected, close to the fort’s
landward side – activity in the fort itself being focussed on action with the Loire. He launched a charge at the outer
gate, where a single soldier fired on them and then retreated within. The
landing party stormed behind him and towards a second, inner gate, which also
appears to have been open. Here a furious struggle commenced, with the Loire’s men opposed by the fort’s
governor, Spanish troops and the crews of the French privateers. Yeo led from the
front and killed the governor with a blow that broke his own sword in two. The
defenders broke and retreated back into the fort, some being seen from the Loire as jumping down – twenty-five feet
– from the embrasures. It was later stated that “such as laid down their arms received quarter, but the slaughter among
those who resisted was very great”. After surrender however care does seem
to have been taken of the wounded prisoners and indeed the local bishop and one
of the community leaders afterwards went out to the Loire to express gratitude for this. Despite the heavy French and
Spanish casualties. Loire lost no men,
though Yeo and fifteen others were wounded – eleven on the ship as a consequence
of fire from shore. (It should be borne in mind however that the classification
“wounded” could be serious enough as to require amputation).

Loire (L), under command of Surcouf, capturing the East Indiaman Kent in 1800

With the fort neutralised, Captain Maitland now easily captured the
Confiance andthe brig – both of which proved to be as yet unarmed – as well as
a Spanish merchantman. The brig was found to be not ready for sea, and was
accordingly burned, but the Confiance
was taken into Royal Navy service. She was a ship with an already notable history. Commissioned in 1799,
this 490-ton corvette had served in the Indian Ocean under the renowned French privateer
(and slaver) Robert Surcouf. Confiance’s most notable action under
his command was capture in 1800 of the East Indiaman Kent after a fierce battle. She had returned to Europe under
Surcouf’s command but when found by Loire
was fitting out for a new privateering voyage under another captain.

Command of what
was now HMS Confiance was now
awarded, deservedly, to Yeo who was promoted to commander – who would achieve coveted
post-captain rank two years later. In Confiance
he was to achieve notable further success in the South Atlantic and by the War
of 1812 had built a reputation that earned him the important command on the Great
Lakes.

And Captain Maitland? Napoleon Bonaparte was to surrender to him on board HMS Bellerophon in 1815, in the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo.

James Lucas Yeo’s further career – and Confiance’s – will be the subject of a
future blog.

Britannia’s Shark by
Antoine Vanner

But now a group of revolutionaries
threaten the economic basis of that power. Their weapon is the invention of a
naïve genius, their sense of grievance is implacable and their leader is
already proven in the crucible of war. Protected by powerful political and
business interests, conventional British military or naval power cannot touch
them. A daring act of piracy draws the ambitious British naval officer,
Nicholas Dawlish, and his wife into this deadly maelstrom. Amid the wealth and squalor of America’s Gilded Age, and on a
fever-ridden island ruled by savage tyranny success – and survival –will demand
making some very strange alliances...

Britannia’s Shark brings
historic naval fiction into the dawn of the Submarine Age.

About Me

My "Dawlish Chronicles" are set in the late 19th Century and reflect my deep interest in the politics, attitudes and technology of the period. The fifth novel in the series, “Britannia’s Amazon” is now available in both paperback and Kindle formats. It follows the four earlier Dawlish Chronicles, "Britannia's Wolf", "Britannia's Reach”, "Britannia's Shark" and "Britannia's Spartan". Click on the book covers below to learn more or to purchase.
I’ve had an adventurous career in the international energy industry and am proud of having worked in every continent except Antarctica. History is a driving passion in my life and I have travelled widely to visit sites of historical significance, many insights gained in this way being reflected in my writing. I welcome contact on Facebook and via this Blog. My website is www.dawlishchronicles.com and its “Conflict” section has a large number of articles on topics from the mid-18th Century to the early 20th Century.